Chapter 76 Proper Measure "Under no circumstances should the baby's belly be visible before the bridal sedan chair is carried in..."

From childhood to adulthood, he was the most worry-free and considerate child in everyone's eyes.

In his youth, he studied and practiced martial arts, and was well-versed in human relationships. As he grew older, he assisted in government affairs and took charge of the Dali Temple. In every matter, he was thorough and meticulous.

Old Master Pei couldn't remember the last time he had seen Pei Xu look so bewildered... as if he were standing at the entrance of a giant maze, holding a map but not knowing where to go.

The anger in his chest dissipated almost entirely in an instant, the wrinkles between his brows slowly relaxed, and his expression softened unconsciously.

He put down his pen and gently patted Pei Xu's arm. There, through layers of clothing, lay his once-childish but now solid flesh and bone.

“A flock of geese,” he sighed, “marriage is a major event, like cooking five flavors; it requires the right timing and method. If you’re too hasty, it will be bland and tasteless. If you’re too slow, the flavor will be overcooked. You have to take it one step at a time, you have to… take it slowly.”

His eyes were bright. "Over the years, you've handled everything else flawlessly, but when it comes to marriage, starting a family... you've had to learn it all from scratch!"

"However—" He looked at his grandson's unusually bewildered expression, feeling both amused and heartbroken, and a surge of immense responsibility welled up within him. "Don't worry, don't be afraid. You still have a lot to learn! Grandpa..."

Old Master Pei's spirits suddenly lifted, he straightened his back, and his face lit up. "When I married your grandmother, the whole city was deserted, nobles gathered everywhere, and the dragon and phoenix candles were lit for three days and three nights! The banquet tables stretched for two whole streets! The spectacle was magnificent..."

He spoke animatedly, his words flowing freely, lost in the glory of the past. "Even decades later, the old folks in the capital still say that no one can match you! How about it? Let your grandfather teach you a lesson, and I guarantee you'll be respectable and dignified! I won't call you 'Madam'... nor will I let the world underestimate the grandeur of the Pei family!"

As Pei Xu listened to his grandfather's passionate recollections of the past, his gaze gradually returned to calm.

He raised his eyes to meet his grandfather's, his expression solemn. "Yes. Grandson... thanks grandfather for his teachings."

Grandpa Pei talked from dawn until the sun was high in the sky before reluctantly stopping, having finally experienced the joy of teaching his grandson a lesson he hadn't had in years.

"Alright. That's all for today." He stroked his white beard and said, "Go and light some incense for your mother. You should tell her about this good news so she can be happy too."

Pei Xu paused for a moment, then nodded slightly after a few breaths. "Yes."

Watching his grandson's figure disappear into the depths of the flowers and trees, the smile lines on the old man's face gradually faded, as if an invisible weight had been placed upon him. He picked up his pen again, but did not continue the poem he had just finished. Instead, he unfolded a new sheet of paper and began to write.

"...Yanxing is of marriageable age and is engaged to Meng Lingyao, the daughter of Meng Yan, the Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. They will be married soon. As a father, how can you not return for such an important event?"

At this point, the old man stopped writing, let out a long sigh, and asked, "Tell me, where is that scoundrel now?"

The old servant respectfully replied, "Master, someone saw the Second Master in the Yongzhou area last month."

The old man didn't stop writing, only letting out a soft "hmm." Once the ink had dried slightly, he folded the letter and handed it over. "Send a reliable team to find him. No matter what, they must deliver this letter to him. His son is getting married; as his father, even if he runs himself ragged, he must crawl back to show his face!"

-

As soon as the carriage from the Meng residence came to a stop at the side gate, Meng Lingyao swiftly grabbed a small mirror from the hidden compartment and carefully examined her face in the sunlight.

A moment later, she turned the mirror upside down and said to Songlan, "Go and tell Mother that I'm tired today and have gone straight to my room to rest. I won't come over to greet her."

Songlan understood immediately, her gaze quickly sweeping over her mistress's lips. Suppressing a laugh, she replied crisply, "Yes, Miss, please rest well."

No sooner had she sat down at her dressing table than the old nanny from her mother's room stood smiling at the doorway. "Miss, Madam requests your presence."

Meng Lingyao wrinkled her nose helplessly at her reflection in the mirror, quickly grabbed the face powder box and wiped away the suspicious blush on her face. She then hurriedly changed out of the wrinkled clothes she was wearing and put on a simple and elegant ruqun before following the nanny to the main courtyard.

Madam Zhong leaned against the soft couch by the window. When she saw her daughter enter, her eyebrows twitched slightly, and she raised her chin to indicate that her daughter should sit down. "How was your day at the Cui family? I vaguely heard that it caused quite a stir."

Meng Lingyao sat down beside her mother, casually picked up some grapes from the low table, peeled a few slowly, and briefly recounted what had happened at the Cui family that day.

Speaking of the time when she stood up for Madam Cui, Madam Zhong slammed her hand on the table and said, “Well said! When I was your age, if I had encountered such a situation, I would have whipped that Cui Wulang on the spot. A grown man, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and without any sense of responsibility, he is truly pathetic!”

Just then, Meng Yan walked in carrying a plate of freshly peeled lotus seeds. Upon hearing this, he subtly expressed his disapproval, saying, "Madam, our Yaoyao doesn't have your family's excellent whip-whipping skills."

Madam Zhong immediately glanced at him sideways and said, "It's all because you wouldn't let me learn!"

Meng Yan looked completely wronged, "How could I not allow it? It's clearly my daughter who doesn't want to learn..."

Meng Lingyao spread out her soft, fair hands, speaking with righteous indignation. The horsewhip was thick and rough, and it hurt her to hold it. She had no intention of learning it.

Seeing that the lady was about to argue, Meng Yan quickly changed his tone, "His Majesty is wise and values ​​the law most. Since Yao Yao has used the law to prove that Lady Cui's request for reconciliation and separation is reasonable, it is naturally inappropriate for him to take further action to harm her and violate the law."

He picked up a lotus seed and sighed, "Back then, the Cui family was a model of strict family management, but now they have fallen to this state. Fortunately, my wife had the foresight to not agree to the marriage proposal from the Marquis of Wuxing."

Madam Zhong nodded in deep agreement, "If Madam Cui is so domineering in her own family, if she marries into the Marquis of Wuxing's household and becomes the Marquis's wife, she will probably be even more ruthless. With such a mistress, how can Yao Yao have a good life in the future?"

Meng Lingyao immediately clung to her mother's arm, her voice sweet enough to melt honey, "My mother loves me the most and always thinks of me."

As for Pei Xu's intervention and support, she glossed over it vaguely.

We can't let him be too proud in front of his parents.

Even so casually, their expressions visibly improved. After all, as parents, they were naturally gratified that their future son-in-law had stood up for their daughter at a crucial moment.

Meng Lingyao muttered under her breath, "It's only because I didn't study the law carefully, otherwise he wouldn't have had the chance to steal the limelight."

In her initial efforts to run the shop well, she diligently studied the laws, but unfortunately, she only focused on the "Miscellaneous Laws," carefully examining each and every provision related to business operations. How could one expand a business without understanding the court's policies? As for the other laws, she only skimmed through them, leaving only a vague impression.

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhong raised her voice to Meng Yan and said, "Did you hear that? Our Yao Yao is going to have to study the law diligently. Hurry up and take out that set of 'Annotations on Laws and Regulations' that you kept in your study so she can see it."

Meng Yan hurriedly agreed and went out.

Once the footsteps faded into the distance, Madam Zhong dismissed the maids and nannies who were standing in the room, leaving only the mother and daughter. She moved to sit down next to Meng Lingyao, placed a glistening lotus seed in her daughter's palm, and whispered, "Mother knows that you and that Pei boy are currently deeply in love. People in love are fiery and passionate, and it's inevitable that feelings will stir within them; there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Meng Lingyao was chewing lotus seeds, the sweet taste melting in her mouth, when she heard this, she paused slightly.

Madam Zhong squeezed her hand, looked directly into her eyes, and lowered her voice further, "However, Yaoyao, the rules of this world are ultimately more unkind to women. You two haven't yet had your wedding ceremony, so you must always keep in mind the proper etiquette and boundaries. Especially..."

She paused, then said more bluntly, "It is absolutely forbidden for a woman to be pregnant before the bridal sedan chair is brought into the house."

Meng Lingyao nearly choked on the lotus seeds, her face turning red and tears welling up in her eyes from coughing. "Mother! You...you're really overthinking it!" She was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl under the blanket.

Seeing her reaction, Madam Zhong laughed and gently patted her back to calm her down. "Alright, alright, look at you! I'm just giving you a heads-up. You're very quick-witted, and when you get excited, you don't care about anything and have no sense of propriety."

She softened her tone, adding a hint of agreement, "However, that Pei family boy does have some sense of propriety."

Meng Lingyao couldn't stand the word "discretion" anymore. She really wanted to argue with her mother word by word, and she was sure that the one who didn't know how to behave was not her, but someone else!

Ultimately, shame prevailed, and she covered her ears and quickly ran away.

Behind them, only Madam Zhong could not help but chuckle softly.

-

As dusk fell, the Cui family mansion was shrouded in a dim, yellowish light.

The servant in blue hurried through the corridor, but slowed down when he reached Cui Ting's room. He carefully dusted off his clothes before gently pushing the door open and entering.

The room was dimly lit, with heavy curtains blocking out the light, and the air was filled with the bitter smell of medicinal herbs.

On his sickbed, Cui Ting's face was as pale as paper, and his thin body looked even more frail in the large quilt.

"Master, the Fifth Young Master has already delivered the divorce papers to the Zhuo family," the servant reported softly.

Cui Ting slowly opened his eyes and nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could utter the words "Wu Lang," he was struck by a violent cough. He quickly covered his mouth and nose, and when the coughing subsided, his handkerchief was stained with a shocking patch of scarlet blood.

The servant's pupils constricted sharply. Suppressing the bitterness in his heart, he stepped forward and carefully supported the trembling body, his eyes reddening. "Master... your children and grandchildren have their own paths to walk. You... your health is the most important thing!"

Cui Ting let him support her, and forced a smile. "Forget it, with my body like this, who can I possibly take care of?"

The servant said nothing more, silently serving him the medicine that was warming on the stove. As the bitter medicine slowly entered his mouth, Cui Ting's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he soon fell asleep again.

Seeing that his breathing was steady, the servant dared to raise his hand and wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. In the sweltering heat of midsummer, not a single block of ice, not even a wisp of wind, dared to enter the room. This was because the room's owner was someone who could be easily dispersed by even a gentle breeze.

Just as he stepped out of the room, another servant hurried over. The servant in blue gave him a look that stopped him from speaking.

"How is it?" he asked in a very low voice.

The visitor immediately bowed and whispered rapidly, "It's been confirmed. Aunt Sun's clothes were tampered with, which is why they tore so easily. As for the strange smell... it shouldn't be on the clothes. The clothes themselves were only scented with ordinary benzoin, and the smell is clean. The strange thing is the prayer cushion she used in the Buddhist hall. When I went to look for it, the old woman in the hall had already thrown it away, saying that she found some kind of burnt incense ash inside, which almost set the cushion on fire, and she was afraid it would be bad luck, so she quickly disposed of it. I suspect that something else was mixed in with the incense ash."

The servant in blue pondered for a moment, then said softly, "Master has already agreed to the Fifth Young Master's request for a divorce, so why bring up these things that would trouble him? If Master doesn't ask, we'll pretend we don't know."

A hint of struggle flashed across the visitor's face, but he finally nodded slowly: "Well... the doctor came to examine me today, what did he say?"

The servant in blue remained silent for an even longer time this time, and finally shook his head very slowly and stiffly.

A sudden, deathly silence fell over the corridor. The last rays of the setting sun pierced through the thick clouds, sparingly letting in a few stray rays that cast two frozen shadows of the blue-clad figure standing before the door.

The occasional bird calls from afar only accentuated the quiet and desolate atmosphere of the mansion.